Reds 6, Nationals 3: Phillips again provides spark in leadoff spot

CINCINNATI - His new place in the batting order is working wonders for Brandon Phillips.

CINCINNATI — His new place in the batting order is working wonders for Brandon Phillips.

Phillips got two more hits in the leadoff spot and the Cincinnati Reds reached .500 for the first time since early July with a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals last night.

Phillips, who scored twice and drove in a run, has gotten a hit in 10 straight games at the top of the lineup, going 19 for 43 (.442) with 10 RBI and nine runs in that span.

Phillips recently asked manager Dusty Baker to put him in the leadoff spot after hitting second and fourth.

“I went to him and said, ‘Hey, Dust, let’s try something different,’?” Phillips said. “I felt comfortable hitting there last year. Why not try something that got us going last year?”

In addition to Phillips, the Reds got a strong effort from starter Mike Leake (11-8), who gave up two runs in six innings and leads the team in wins.

“The last time I played them they hit too many balls in the air,” said Leake, who allowed five earned runs in six innings vs. the Nationals 12 days ago. “I made some mistakes this time and they made me pay. They were fouling off a lot of pitches, but I wasn’t giving in to them.”

The Nationals did hit three home runs, two off Leake, but the Reds used three sacrifice flies to trump the long balls. Cincinnati (66-66) has won six of eight and is at .500 for the first time since it stood 44-44 on July 6.

Nationals first baseman Chris Marrero committed two key errors in his major-league debut.

“They helped us early,” Baker said. “We took advantage of it. We were aggressive tonight.”

Phillips led off the bottom of the first with a sharp grounder to Marrero, who let the first ball hit to him as a big-leaguer get through for an error. Phillips went to second on Dave Sappelt’s sacrifice, to third on Joey Votto’s groundout to Marrero and scored on a wild pitch by Ross Detwiler (2-4).

The Nationals took a 2-1 lead in the third on home runs by Wilson Ramos and Jayson Werth, but Marrero’s second error led to Cincinnati’s three-run fourth.

After Phillips and Sappelt opened with singles, Marrero fielded Votto’s possible double-play grounder, but his throw to second sailed into left field, allowing Phillips to score from second. Bruce walked to load the bases and Miguel Cairo and Drew Stubbs each hit a sacrifice fly.

“We are doing the little things now, like we did last year,” Phillips said.

The Reds made it 6-2 in the sixth, which included Cairo’s double and stolen base, which set up Edgar Renteria’s sacrifice fly.

Washington’s Michael Morse added a 438-foot solo home run into the upper deck in left field off Sam LeCure in the eighth.

Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 29th save and 12th straight since the All-Star break.